My oh my, last night sure was a far cry from last year's season opener against the almighty Cavs, eh?
After the regular season schedules came out this past August, I was very excited to see the Hawks as Toronto's first opponent to kick off the new year. Atlanta, much like Toronto, is an East team that tweaked its roster a bit, adding quality vets like Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil-Alexander Walker, and Luke Kennard, to go along with their already solid young core featuring Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, and Dyson Daniels. Despite being a Raptors devotee, I think it's fair to root for some other teams around the league, and the Hawks stood out to me as a squad that could jumpstart a revival in the East standings, just as the Raptors are hopeful for.